Our Organisation

Inner Melbourne Community Legal (IMCL) is a not-for-profit community organisation that provides free legal assistance to low-income people in the inner Melbourne area. Our mission is to create a fairer, more equal community through advocacy and law reform, education, casework and strategic litigation. We provide access to justice to the most marginalised members of our community including individuals experiencing homelessness, family violence, mental illness, disability, racialised and/or over-policing, substance dependency and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

We operate across two offices in North Melbourne and Kensington, and deliver multiple integrated outreach services in partnership with other health, education and community organisations in the local area.

Some of IMCL’s signature programs include the Specialist Social Housing Program, Health Justice Partnerships and the Police Accountability Project. IMCL is on the Victorian Legal Aid Panel for family law, summary crime, family violence and youth justice.

About the Role

This is an outstanding opportunity for a senior lawyer to join a highly regarded legal centre with a reputation for innovation and strength in integrated partnerships.

IMCL’s Youth Outreach Program embeds specially trained community outreach lawyers in schools and youth services to provide access to legal help for you people who need it. The program provides compassionate, age-appropriate legal support to enable children and young people to remain focused and engaged at school.

Operating since 2019, the Youth Outreach Lawyer Program works with young people navigating significant social adversity, enabling them to stay in the classroom and connected to their school, supports and communities. The Program builds on the experience of other programs established in schools across Victoria to embed dedicated community outreach lawyers within educational settings that target disadvantaged and marginalised young people.

We seek an energetic lawyer who understands the socio-legal needs of our community, that is committed to strengthening our youth partnerships.

The successful candidate will ideally have experience in one or more areas of community legal practice. In helping to deliver our youth outreaches, the successful candidate will be expected to provide advice in a range of areas of law including family violence, fines, tenancy, police accountability and victims of crime. We pride ourselves on having broad legal capability and will develop the successful candidate in other areas of law.

Alongside legal service delivery, the Senior Lawyer will play a key role in nurturing and strengthen youth partnerships through stakeholder engagement and relationship management and legal education delivery.

The role will comprise the following key elements:

1. Providing legal services (advice, casework and court advocacy) with a focus on issues impacting young people including criminal matters, fines, police accountability and other areas of IMCL practice such as family violence and tenancy.
2. Develop and strengthening partnerships and stakeholder relationships with local youth-focused organisations, which include the Hester Hornbrook Academy, The Drum and The Huddle and others, and lead the management of these partnerships in order to implement a sustainable service model and maximise referrals
3. Attending IMCL outreaches and clinics on a rostered basis.
4. Delivering professional and community legal education to youth workers, education staff and young people.
5. Identifying policy and advocacy opportunities and work collaboratively with the team to advocate for positive legal and social change.

Working at IMCL

IMCL is committed to promoting a diverse, inclusive and values-driven workplace. IMCL is party to a new sector-leading Multi-Enterprise Agreement and pays 3% above the SCHADS Award. IMCL employees will also have access to generous salary packaging benefits.

We encourage people from diverse backgrounds and experience to apply, including people with lived experience in the areas we practice in. We strongly encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTIQ+ people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse and refugee backgrounds, women, and people with a disability to apply. 

To be eligible to apply for this position you must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, permanent resident, or hold a valid work permit or visa.

Applications should be made via the "Apply Now" button.

For further information, you are welcome to contact Molly Williams - [email protected] using the subject line: Senior Lawyer - Youth Outreach enquiry via EthicalJobs.

A position description is attached.